Apparatus for filling and discharging containers



Nov, 24, 1959 R. A. FORESMAN, JR 2,914,096

v APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND DISCHARGING CONTAINERS Filed March 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR. Rg BERT A. FORESMAN, J'r

1959 R. A. FORESMAN, JR 2,914,096

APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND DISCHARGING CONTAINERS Filed March s, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .FIG.3.

ROBERT A. FORESMAN,Jr.

ATTORNEIS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND DISCHARGING CONTAINERS Robert A. Foresman, In, Philadelphia, Pa. Application March 5, 1956, Serial No. 569,583

3 Claims. (Cl. 141-20) This invention relates to apparatus for passing fluids under pressure toand from containers.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide manually operated apparatus suitable for use in a laboratory and in connection with experimental operations by means of which fluids under pressure may be charged into or discharged from valved containers.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus specifically adapted for charging or discharging containers with fluids including liquefied gases in measured quantities.

These and other objects of .the invention relating particularly-to the construction thereof will become evident from the rfollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a frontelevation of theapparatus;

Figure-Ziis-a side elevation of the apparatu s showing the left-hand side of 'Figure 1;

Figure 3- is a transverse section through a fragmentary portion ofthe apparatus taken on the trace 3-3 shown in Figure 2; 7 r a {Figure 4is-a vertical section through a fragmentary portion of theapparatus takenwon the trace indicated rat 4--4 in Figure 3;- v

Figure ,5 is a vertical section through -a fragmentary portion of'the apparatus taken-on the trace indicated at 5-'-5 in vFigure 3; and i Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse section through th apparatus showing .a fragmentaryportion -of-jthe apparatusshoWn-in Figures 1 and t2. v

The :apparatus includes a baseplate 10 adapted to be positioned :upon any suit-ablesupporting surface. At.- fixed to the upper surface ofithe base P13161048 a block 12 mounting a container locatingoand receiving block Integral with theblockw12 is-a pair 'of vertically extending cylindrical receivers '16 supporting vertically Zfii -ifihii Patented Nov. 24, 1959 block 32 is provided with a horizontal bore through which there extends a shaft 36 mounting a pinion gear 38 which is in mesh with the rack 34. A hand wheel 40 is attached to an outwardly extending end of the shaft 36. it will be evident that by rotation of the hand wheel 46 the rack 34 may be made to move upwardly or downwardly through the block 32. A thumb screw 42 is threaded into the block 32 and is adapted to bear against the rack 34 in order to lock the rack 34 in the block 32.

p A control block 44 is aflixed to the lower portion of the plate 30. The block 44 is provided with an upwardly extending threaded projection 56 adapted to receive the threaded lower end of a tubular member 48. The upper end of the'tubular member 48 is threaded and receives a cap 50 provided with a bore through which the rack 34 may pass. The tubular member 43 is provided with longitudinally extending cutout portion 52 through which there may be viewed a glass cylinder 54, the lower end of which rests upon a shoulder 56 on the top of the threaded projection 46 and fits around ,a projection 53 extending from the projection 46 which is provided with a slot for the receipt of an O-ring 60 which serves to provide a seal between the projection 58 and the glass cylinder 54. The cap 50 bears upon the upper end of the glass cylinder 54 and serves to retain it in position. The lowermost'end of the rack 34 carries a piston 62 in snug sliding fit relation with the inside wall of the glass cylinder 5 The piston 62 is provided with an O-ring 64 in order to insure a tight sea-ling relation between the piston and the inside wall of the glass cylinder 54. From the foregoing, it will be evident that rotation of the hand Wheel 40' will cause the piston 52 to move upwardly or downwardly within the glass cylinder 54.

In order to limit the upward stroke of the piston 62, there is provided a piston stop collar 66 which is best shownin Figure 6 and is adapted to he slid over the rack 3st in engagement with a tooth thereof. A small screw 68 is provided in order to securely position the collar66 on the rack 34. Upon upward movement of the rack 34, the collar 66 comes into engagement with a micrometer stop ring 70 havin'gan internal diameter providing clearance around the rack 34 and threaded for engagement with external-threads on a micrometer screw 72 aflixed to the underside of the block 34. It will be evident that the collar 66 can be only positioned at inmovable-rams 18" provided with racks 2i) engagedby pinions 2 2 affixed to a shaft 24 extending transversely through *thetrblock 12 adjacent to the receivers 16. A handle "26 is in driving relation withthe shaft 24"and,' by rotation of the'handle, the 'rams 1'8 mayibe raised and lowered. If desired, a self-locking type of handle structure may be employed such as, for example, that described in the patent toGuyE. 'Swartz No. 2500;022. The combination of vertically movable rams and a selflocking operating means therefor is well :known in the art andis fullyidescribedfiniCatalog #953 of the Swartz Tool 'Products Company and thus need not be de'scribed in detail herein. It islsuflicient to note that by operation -.of the handle 26 the rams IStmay beraised and cr'ements equivalent to the spacing between the teeth on' the rack-34-. Thus, in order to provide a fine adjustm'ent; themicrometer assembly 79, 72 is provided. The arrangement of the collar 66 and themicrometer 70, 72 serves to limit the upward travel of the piston 64- to a predetermined distance from the top of the projection 58. The diameter of the bore through the cap 50 is such as to permit the collar 66 to pass downwardly into the glass cylinder 54 and to thus permit the piston 62 to pass downwardly to the bottom of the chamber within the glass cylinder 54.

The block 44, as is most clearly shown in Figures 1 and 4,"is provided on its left-hand side with bores 73 and 75 adapted to receive valve assemblies 74 and 76 controlled by levers 78 and 80, respectively. The bores 73 and 75 are provided with valve seats 82 and 84, respectively. Valve members 86 and 38 are urged into engagement withthe seats by springs 90 and 92, respectively, and are lifted from their seats by the operation of a fitting for connection to a liquid supply line 100, and a bore 102 in alignment with and in communication with the bore 75 is adapted to receive a fitting for connection to a fluid discharge line 104. From the foregoing, it will be evident that fluid under pressure may be delivered to the space within the glass cylinder 54- by actuation of the lever 78 to open the valve 86, 82, and fluid under pressure within the glass cylinder 54 may be discharged by actuation of the lever 88.

A fitting 106 is aifixed to the underside of the block 44 by means of screws 108 and is provided with a downwardly extending externally threaded projection 110. An adapter 112 is threaded over the projection 110 and is .provided with a downwardly extending cylindrical receiver 114 adapted to receive the shoulder of a cap 116 on a container 120 which is to be filled with fluid under pressure. A thumb screw 122 is provided in order to secure the adapter 112 to the fitting 106. It will be evident that various adapters may be employed in order to provide for engagement with variously shaped caps on various containers to be formed. A rubber washer 124 is aflixed to the undersurface of a cylindrical projection 126 extending downwardly from the fitting 106. The washer 124 is adapted to bear upon the upper surface of the cap of a container and to provide a sealing engagement therewith preventing fluid under pressure existing within a longitudinally extending bore 128 within the fitting 106 from escaping -to the atmosphere around the cap 116 of the container.

The block 44 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore 130, the upper end of which enters the space within the glass cylinder 54. The lowermost end of the bore 130 communicates with a bore 132 provided with a valve seat 134 which is engaged by a valve member 136. The valve member is spring loaded within a member 138 threaded into the bore 132 and the valve member is controlled by a pivotally mounted lever 140. It will be would pass and the adapter would possibly be formed with projections similar to the projection 114 shown in Figure 5 but which would pass annularly inside of the cap rather than annularly outside of the cap as shown in Figure 5. Numerous types of caps may be employed and numerous types of adapters may be employed to accommodate these caps. The essential consideration is that the fitting 106 and the sealing washer 124 may, in combination with various adapters, serve to provide sealing engagement with containers having variously formed caps.

With the container 160 positioned as shown in Figure 3, rotation of the handle 26 will serve to move the mounting plate 30 downwardly and bring the adapter engaged the bottom end of the tube 146.

into engagement with the cap on the container. As previously noted, the handle 26 and the apparatus associated therewith may be provided with self-locking means in order to cause the container 160 to be held snugly in po* sition between the adapter 112 and the block 14.

The adapter 110 is so positioned on the threaded fitting 106 that, when the cap of the container is bearing upon the inwardly extending shoulder 117 of the adapter, the uppermost end of the container valve stem has not yet It may be noted that some containers are provided with tubular stems. It will be evident that the adapter for such a container would be positioned so that the uppermost end of the tubular container valve stem would be positioned adjacent to but not in engagement with the lowermost end of the tube 146. Under these conditions, upon rotation of the cam 152, the container valve will be opened and, when the cam 152 is in the position shown, the container valve is closed.

evident that this valve assembly is identical to those controlled by the levers 78 and 80 previously described.

The vertically extending bore 128 in the fitting 106 communicates with a bore 142 extending upwardly from the lower surface of the block 44. A piston member 144 is slidably positioned in the bore 142 and has extending downwardly therefrom a cylindrical member 146 passing within the bore 128 in the fitting 106. The cylindrical member 146 is adapted to rest upon a shoulder formed on the upper end of a valve stem 148 extending from the cap 116 of the container. of the piston 144 is provided with a wear ring 150 which is adapted to be engaged by an extended cam member 152 connected to a lever 154 positioned externally of the block 44. Rotation of the lever 154 rotates the cam 152 and depresses the piston 144 and the tube 146, thus depressing the valve stem 148 and opening a valve in the cap of the container. The bore 132 communicates through an annular recess 156 and a radial bore 158 in the piston 144 with the interior of the cylindrical mern- The upper surface With the container thus positioned, the exhaust valve control lever 80 is operated to open the exhaust valve, whereupon the hand wheel 40 is rotated in order to carry the piston 62 downwardly into engagement with the upper surface of the projection 58 of the block 44 whereupon the exhaust valve controlled by the lever 80 is closed and the inlet valve controlled by the lever 78 is opened. Fluid under pressure, for example, a liquefied gas, may then pass inwardly from the supply line 100 to the cylinder 54 moving the piston 62 upwardly to the limit of its upward travel as determined by the seatings of the stop collar 66 and the micrometer 70, 72. When the piston 62 has risen to the limit of its travel, the space within the cylinder 54 below the piston will be filled, whereupon the valve controlled by the lever 78 is closed and, if the lever 54 is operated to open the valve of the container, the valve controlled by the lever 140 may be opened and, upon rotation of the hand wheel 40, the liquefied gas or other fluid contained within the cylinder 54 will be delivered under pressure to the interior of the container.

ber 146. From the foregoing, it will be evident that,

upon operation of the valve lever 140, the valve 134, 136 may be opened or closed. controlling communication. between the cylinder 54 and the interior of the cylindrical member 146. Rotation of the lever 154 controls the opening and closing of a valve assembly in the cap 116 of the container being filled. It will be evident that suitable packing means such as, for example, an O-ring, will be provided to prevent the escape of fluids past the cam shaft 152.

In operation of the apparatus, a container, such as the container 160 shown in Figure 2, is positioned on the container receiving block 14. An adapter 112 will have: been selected to accommodate the particular cap assem-- bly on the container 160. For example, instead of a cap assembly formed such as that shown in Figure 5, there may be employed a cap assembly having a substantial internal recess into which the rubber sealing Washer 124;-

When the fluid being employed is a liquefied gas, the container is preferably prepared by displacing the air within the container with a suitable volume of the gas which, in liquefied form, is to constitute the charge in the container. This may be accomplished in the present apparatus by employing the apparatus to deliver a small volume of the liquefied gas to the container wherein the liquefied gas or at least a portion thereof will vaporize and then, if the container valve is open to the atmosphere, substantially all of the air contained within the container will be expelled therefrom along with the vaporizing liquid, whereupon the container may then be substantially completely filled with the liquefied gas without the simultaneous inclusion of air or other unwanted gases which may be in a vapor state under the conditions of pressure and the temperature at which the liquefied gas is in a liquid state.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that this invention provides a simple, practical, manually operated piece of laboratory apparatus by means of which containers of various sizes and containers having various cap structures may be filled with various fluidsv under pressure including liquefied gases. It will also be evident that the apparatus may not only be employed for the measurement of predetermined quantities of a fluid to be delivered to a container, but that the apparatus may also be employed to deliver predetermined quantities of each of various successive fluids to a single Container. Furthermore, the apparatus may be employed for withdrawing predetermined quantities of elastic fluid from a container or, if the apparatus is mounted in a position inverted from that shown in the drawings or if a siphon tube is provided, an inelastic fluid may be withdrawn from a container. A measured quantity of fluid may be withdrawn from the container and observed in the glass cylinder and thereafter returned to the container. Alternatively, a quantity of fluid can be withdrawn from a container and discharged from the apparatus to provide a sample of the fluid which may, for example, be subjected to analysis or various other tests.

Thus the apparatus disclosed provides not only for the filling of containers, but for various manipulations of fluid delivered to or removed from containers and these fluids may be either elastic or inelastic fluids.

What is claimed is: r

1. In apparatus for filling pressure fluid containers, the combination comprising means providing a seat for a container to be filled, a filling head over said seat, means for moving said seat and filling head relative to one another for clamping said container therebetween, means mounted upon and providing a chamber over said filling head, said filling head being provided with a passage for placing said chamber in communication with a source of fluid under pressure, a passage for venting said chamber and a passage for placing said chamber in communication with the interior of the container, valves carried by said filling head and selectively operable manually for 1 ing a section of said valved passage for placing said chamber in communication with the interior of the container, said cam follower being carried by and shiftably mounted in the filling head, and a cam member carried by said filling head and operable for shifting said cam 01- lower, and displaceable means in said chamber operable manually for driving fluid from said chamber through said valved passage section for discharge thereof into said container.

2. In apparatus for filling pressure fluid containers, the combination comprising means providing a seat for a container to be filled, a filling head over said seat, means for moving said seat and filling head relative to one another for clamping said container therebetween, means mounted upon and providing a chamber over said filling head, said filling head including manually controlled means for opening the valve of the container while the same is clamped in the manner aforesaid, and being provided with a valved passage means through which said chamber may be selectively vented, placed in communication with a source of fluid under pressure or placed in communication with the interior of the container, said manually controlled means including a member'in the form of a cam follower shiftably mounted in said filling head and adapted for engagement with said container valve, and a cam member carried by said filling head and operable forshifting said cam follower, and displaceable means in said chamber operable for driving fluid from said chamber through said valved passage means for discharge thereof into said container while said chamber isunvented and cut off from communication with said fluid pressure source.

'3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein the cam follower is provided with a hollow interior which forms a section of the valved passage means through which the chamber may be placed in communication with the interior of the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

